What happens next?
by cloclovilla
Summary: This story takes place after Last Sacrifice. It talks about Lissa being queen and the people plotting against her as well as Rose and Dimitri fighting for their relationship and other subjects... It's rated T for now but I think I might make it go up to M at some point.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there :) It's my first time writing anything, I hope you like it.**

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 **Chapter 1**

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I woke up to knocks on my door. Light was still pouring in beside my closed curtains which meant it was still night time here at Court. Alarmed, I jumped out of bed and went to open my door. Dimitri stood before me, as handsome as ever. He was already dressed in his guardian uniform and I could smell his aftershave. There were no "Good morning Roza" or "how was your night?". No, he was in full guardian mode. We had agreed not to be too personal when we were working. But I could still notice the corner of his lip going up a bit. I could tell he was happy to see me and I soon realized I was dressed very lightly. It was summer and I was still in my pajamas, which meant a big tee-shirt, but it wasn't any tee-shirt, and I'm sure he noticed. It was one I had taken from him when I visited his place. I felt myself blush slightly, but it soon hit me. What was he doing here? Was something wrong with Lissa or Christian?

"What's going on?" I asked quickly

"Nothing's wrong with Lissa or Christian" he reassured as if he had read my mind. I eased up a bit before tensing again when he added "at least not something life threatening".

"Let me change, you'll explain on our way to see them" I stood aside so he could come in. He hesitated at first but then walked in. I closed the door behind him and walked to my closet to find my uniform. In just a few minutes I had gotten dressed, pulled my hair up, and gotten myself clean. I was ready to go.

We began walking towards Lissa's new office, as Dimitri started to explain the situation to me. Lissa had been under a lot of pressure since she had been crowned Queen a month ago. The royals where pressuring her to make changes or in our case now to not make changes. Lissa had been trying to change the way Moroi felt about fighting, but so far she didn't have much success. Most royals where selfish and physically weak, they hated change, at least when they were involved.

Today, Lissa had woken up early to be able to prepare for a meeting she had with the royals later on. But as things weren't going too well in her preparations she asked Dimitri to come get me, hoping I could give her some inspiration.

After being shot, Lissa wouldn't allow me to resume my full duty until at least two months. I tried to argue that I was fine, and that I needed to work but she was soon joined by Dimitri, Christian, my mother, and even Alberta when she came to visit. Although I did managed to negotiate on the terms. I would work all day, simply starting my shift a few hours later than regular shifts. This also meant that I wasn't allowed to do night shifts or anything that would make me lose too much sleep. It felt like the field experiment all over again. But other than that, there was nothing I could do to change the way they felt. To top it off, I still wasn't used to the bound being gone, and I kept thinking that if it wasn't then I would have known about her frustration and Dimitri wouldn't have had to come and get me. Not that I minded seeing his face first thing in the morning.

As we kept walking I could see the people whispering. Before Tasha was executed for treason, she had spoken about our relationship to all of those who would come in contact with her. If she didn't manage to have me executed she was dead set on making our relationship as hard as she could. People started asking question and we defended ourselves as much as we could. Our friend and our Queen helped us convince them it was nothing to worry about. We had argued that our relationship started after he had been brought back to life even if we were attracted to one another before. Eventually people started believing us, ignoring Tasha's protest, and the rumors dilled down a notch. After all, a damphir couple was looked down upon but I was in no circumstances illegal. As we went across court, I silently hoped no one would come to talk directly to us. My wish was almost granted… _almost_. As the doors to Lissa's new office appeared at the end of the hallway, a young Moroi whom I could tell was royal from looking at his eyes, stood in front of us, cutting our road, and making us stop. We had both seen him coming from the corner of our eyes but had hoped he was simply passing by.

"You disgust me. You should be ashamed of yourself" he said looking at Dimitri.

"Step aside please, we have urgent matters to attend to, and we do not make our queen wait." As always, Dimitri stayed calm and kept his guardian mask on. No one could tell what he was feeling or if he had been offended by the Moroi's word. I would have thought he was fine if I hadn't seen his mouth twitch a little when the Moroi spoke. It was barely visible and I was pretty sure I was the only one who had picked up on it.

"You should never be allowed near a school anymore. Who knows, you might start impregnating the Moroi underage girls next" continued the Moroi ignoring Dimitri's statement. It took every ounce of control I had to not throw him against the wall and put my hand on his neck, to shut him up. Unfortunately Dimitri was still walking on thin ice for what had happen between us and making a scene now would only make things worse. No matter what kind of an asshole some of these royal Moroi's were, "they come first". As he opened his mouth to add something else, I shoved him aside as gently as I could after hearing what he said, leaving us just enough space to keep walking. The Moroi gasped when he was pushed aside and yelled "You'll pay for this! You have no idea who I am!" as we were walking away.

"And you have no idea who I am" I hissed between my teeth. Indeed, I had graduated top of my class and was starting to feel respect coming from my coworkers, I had become quite a legend within the guardian world. But most of all, I had quite a family; my mother was one of the most respected guardians in the world, my father could probably have him lose his position wherever this Moroi had one, being a mob and all, and to top it off, my sister, or at least my best friend was his Queen. Yes, he had no idea who I was or what I was capable of.

"You shouldn't have done that" said Dimitri as soon as we were out of earshot.

"And he shouldn't have said that!" I knew he was right but it still annoyed me that he was somewhat defending him. The rest of the walk happened quietly, and we soon reached Lissa's door.

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 **Author's note**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the character or the universe, it all belongs to Richelle Mead**

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I have few ideas already but feel free to give suggestions. I will do my best to include them.**

 **Also, I'm not a native English speaker, so if there is anything you don't understand or spelling and grammar you find, please tell me and I will do my best to rewrite and correct.**

 **I'll try to update soon but my exam periode are coming (12** **th** **grade) so I can't promise anything.**

 **Anyways, please review and tell me what you thought :)**

 **Cloclovilla**


	2. Chapter 2

_"And he shouldn't have said that!" I knew he was right but it still annoyed me that he was somewhat defending him. The rest of the walk happened quietly, and we soon reached Lissa's door._

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 **Chapter 2**

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I knocked once, and before I could knock a second time Lissa had opened the door and was pulling me in in a hurry.

"The meeting is in a few hours and I still don't know how I'm going to convince them, what should I do Rose?" I was surprised to see her turning to me for help when she had always been the one to know how to deal with politics, but at the moment she was panicking and nothing could be done unless she calmed down first.

"Breath Lissa, everything is going to be fine. Come on." I mimicked a deep breath and she followed and slowly calmed down.

"Remember Liss, how you manage to find compromises when people were fighting in court? It's the same here. You've become queen but you're still you, charming and selfless. You're going to do just fine." I tempted to reassure her.

"I keep thinking they're trying to take advantage of the fact that I'm still new at this to make me back down on some decisions. And I know I can't just start changing everything but there's so much I want to do for our world!"

"I know Liss, but you have to do it one step at the time, start small and finish big, and if anyone still disagree with you, well just tell me and I'll beat some sense into them" I winked. She giggled, and I felt the tension that had built up breaking. Lissa had received pressure from others, but most of the pressure was coming from herself. She wanted to be a good queen and to help others as much as she could but she was constantly afraid she was letting her people down.

Christian, whom I had barely noticed till then, came up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You're a great queen, stop worrying." he whispered to her ear before giving her a kiss. Christian had had a hard time with his aunt being executed but he stayed by Lissa's side through every hardship she had encountered since she had stepped in as queen. And for that I was truly grateful. She had sent Jill away soon after her coronation, to allow her a life she never had. This was by far the hardest thing she had had to do since becoming queen. Jill had begged her sister to let her stay, telling her she could be useful and quiet and that she wouldn't cause any trouble. She didn't understand why Lissa would send her away with Sydney. Lissa had actually grown quite found of her half-sister and had spent quite some time with her before telling her she had to go for her own good. Court wasn't safe for her, Moroi would take any chance they got to make her regret she was even born and that was something Lissa could never allow. Jill would be better with the humans. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself. I didn't need the bound to know that leaving her sister had broken her heart.

"Alright!"Lissa said determined. She started writing on a piece of paper and soon forgot any of us were here.

Christian walked up to me and I could feel he was eager to tell me something.

"We've decided to move in together, but we haven't had time to pack yet because of all the events and meetings." After a small pause, he added "Would you mind giving us a hand?" he said. His eyes glowed with happiness but I could sense he was also worried. As her "sister" and best friend he was probably also seeking some kind of approval. They had spent most of their night together but the feeling wasn't the same as actually knowing they lived together.

"That's great new!" I said. I was glad they were finally moving forward with their relationship. Lissa loved Christian and she had wondered for quite a bit when they were going to take the next step. I was excited for her.

"When should we start?" I asked.

"I was hoping you could do this now so she will have one less thing to worry about tonight. My things are already packed and ready to go but Lissa hasn't had time yet. We're moving into the mansion." At court, a mansion was dedicated to the queen, however Lissa had insisted she wanted to stay in her apartment a little while longer, so that she wouldn't be too disoriented, her decision was made mostly because she thought the mansion was too big for one person.

"I'll get to it right away". As I started to walk away, he added "Belikov, go with her, she might need help carrying". Dimitri had stepped back once we arrived in the room, just like any other guardians. He was still trying to prove to the world he was a fit guardian and that meant following every rule, every protocol and constantly being at his best. As for me, I had none of that, Lissa was my charge but she was also my best friend, and my guardian mode was rarely on when we were alone, or almost alone.

"Hey!" Even if I wouldn't mind spending my morning with Dimitri, I didn't like being underestimated.

"It'll be faster" he quickly corrected.

"Nice come back Sparky" I said laughing

We then left the room and headed towards Lissa's apartment. As soon as we left Christian allowed a few of the guardians who were patiently waiting outside to come in as a security measure. I wasn't always happy to leave Lissa's side and I know Dimitri's instincts as a guardian told him the same about Christian. But we still allowed it when we were at court since other guardians were always near the queen, and as a result, near Christian.

Lissa's apartment was much closer to her office than mine and we arrived there in just a few minutes. I took out my spare keys and opened the door. As always her apartment was neat and clean. The exact opposite of mine. Sometime I wondered how we ever managed to become friends being two exact opposites.

"I'll start with the leaving room, and you start with her room." Dimitri said. I complied and headed to the room. Her room was quite small, and reminded me of the one she had back at St Vladimir. Once I was finished packing her accessories, I opened her closet to start putting away her clothes and was astonished at just how much clothing she had. All were high couture and classy. I carefully folded each of them. With one last look at the now empty room, I went to join Dimitri in the living room.

He didn't see me come in; crouching on the floor, he was focused on an object. As I walked closer my eyes caught what was distracting him. He held a frame in his hand. It was a picture Lissa took of her and me when we went shopping for the first time after we had been forced back to St Vladimir. We both had a grin on our face but my eyes were lost somewhere else. I felt myself blush as I remembered who I was looking at. Dimitri must have figured it out, since a smile appeared on his face. I walk to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked up, a small grin still on his face. He put his hand on mine and we both looked at the picture a little while longer. He then stood up, letting go of my hand.

"You done?" he asked.

" about you Comrade?"

"Almost. I just need a few minutes and then we can start carrying the boxes to the mansion."

I nodded. He continued packing, and I went to the kitchen. The mansion had everything Lissa would need, so we didn't bother to pack the kitchen and I was grateful to find glasses. I had been thirsty for quite a while now. Unfortunately, they were in one of the upper compartment. Just barely out of reach. Damn sometimes being small really got on my nerves. I stood on my toes lifting my arm and pushing against the counter to gain some height. Before I knew it, a shadow covered me and I saw a hand reach out to grab a glass. I shivered as I felt his body so close to mine. I turned around and found myself only a few inches away from him. He put the glass down on the counter behind me but didn't back away.

"You should've asked me for help." He started.

"You were occupied."

"Roza…"

I lifted my head up to look directly into his dark brown eyes. My heart rate rose as I realized how close he was. I looked at his lips, feeling the urge to kiss him. After all, I hadn't had a chance to since yesterday and it was eating me up inside. I think he realized it because he leaned down and his lips brushed against mine. Before he could pull back, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I had missed the touch of his lips. He slid one hand in my hair and the other behind my back, pushing my body against his. I felt his tongue and opened my mouth letting him in. Our kiss was more and more passionate and I could feel his control slide. He bent down and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, realizing the effects I had on him, as he sat me down on the counter. I bit my lower lips as his mouth traveled down my neck and was soon reaching my breast. I took his hand and slid it under my shirt. Electricity shot through my body as he came in contact with my bare skin. I surprised myself hearing a moan escaped when his hips collided with mine. If this continued, I would lose it completely.

"Dimitri…" I said, slipping my hand in his silky hair. He tilted his head up. I could see the lust, passion and love fill his eyes. He brought his mouth back to mine and picked me up once more. I shivered with anticipation. My back fell against the table. He had moved us back to the living room. Our bodies distance lessened and I could hear him whisper my name in between kisses. I craved him more than I had thought. His hand slid to my thigh and pulled it up, allowing him more access to my hips. His duster fell on the ground and I moved to pull his shirt off. But, before I could, a loud sound came from the door. Someone had knocked. We pulled away from each other, straightening our clothes. Dimitri went to open the door. I barely had time to rearrange my hair before Dimitri reappeared, Eddie by his side.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything" he said, clearly realizing he had. "Christian told me to come help with the move."

Dimitri blushed slightly, embarrassed, before putting his guardian mask back on. He moved towards the boxes and finished packing.

I turned to face Eddie, "Nice timing" I said. Eddie didn't have any trouble noticing the irony in my voice.

"Always" he said sarcastically. Eddie and I had gotten pretty close since Masson passed and he mostly regarded me as a sister. Feeling protective of me he was probably glad to have interrupted.

Eddie went to help pack and I finally had my glass of water.

Once they were done, we each took two boxes and headed out.

While walking, I just couldn't help but think I was actually the one moving in with my boyfriend. Wedding was definitely out of the question, I wasn't ready for that yet. But would I mind moving in with Dimitri? I could definitely imagine him cooking me dinner at night and waking me up with sweet kisses. That would help us spend more time with each other. Now that Christian was moving in with Lissa, there was no need for him to stay in the same apartment. But at the same time I felt like moving in together now was still a little too soon, we had just gotten back together a few months ago and we both agreed to take this slow. But I still wouldn't mind spending more time with him.

"Diner at my place tonight? My shift finishes a bit earlier today" he said as if he had read my mind.

"Alright, I'll meet you there once I'm done with mine." He nodded, pleased with my answer.

"Sure I'll come" Eddie said teasing. I glared at him and he added "Or not."

The mansion was as big as the history books described. There were two meeting rooms, three bathrooms, eight guest rooms, a main room, and the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. We dropped of the boxes and started emptying them. Christian boxes soon arrived and we unpacked them as well. Once we were done, we headed back to Lissa's office.

The door was open when we got there and I could hear Lissa pacing.

"Hey Liss, how was the meeting?"

"I'm not sure…I think it went alright."

"Come on, let's go have lunch, I'm starving and you need to regain your strength as well." I held my hand out to her. She hesitated before taking it and I led her outside, leaving Christian and Dimitri behind.

It was time for some girl talk.

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Author's note

Disclaimer: I do not own the character or the universe, it all belongs to Richelle Mead

Hey there ;) don't forget to review, I would love to know what you think about the story so far.


	3. Chapter 3

" _Come on, let's go have lunch, I'm starving and you need to regain your strength as well." I held my hand out to her. She hesitated before taking it and I led her outside, leaving Christian and Dimitri behind._

 _It was time for some girl talk._

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 **Chapter 3**

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We walked to the main lunch court where most of the restaurants were held. Our group wasn't going unnoticed. Lissa wanted to be seen, and it was a success; she asked every single guardian we passed in our way to escort us. We were almost ten when we arrived. Lissa never liked how Queens and Kings would constantly stay between royals and never seemed to pay attention to the others surrounding them. She didn't want to be snobbish like them.

Every single restaurant was crowded, but we both knew any one of them would welcome us and create space if we chose theirs. I spotted Mia across the court and made our way through to her. Mia was bringing extravagant cocktails to a group of Moroi who seemed to be celebrating. She apologized to a gorgeous blond girl and put the glasses quickly in front of a Moroi who didn't even notice her. When she saw us, a smile appeared on her face, probably proud to see our queen eat at her place. She cleaned out a table for two and directed the other guardians to the bar. When everyone was sited she pulled a chair and joined us at the table.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" I teased.

"One of the perks of working with your father is that you get a break whenever you feel like it" she said as she smirked.

"So how's everything been going with you? Are you still practicing?" asked Lissa before I could respond.

"We've been quite busy these days, so I haven't had time to practice since Jill left" Lissa tensed at the name of her sister but tried not to let her sadness show through. "but I intend to get back on the horse as soon as I can. There's still so much I have to learn!" continued Mia, completely oblivious to Lissa's feeling.

"I thought you could have a break whenever you wanted" I teased. I knew she still contributed as much as she could to the family business at court, since her mother was killed, even if she usually had a carefree act going on.

"I still got to eat, girl"

"Anyways, I wanted to tell you both about the meeting I had this morning with the royals. We had quite a long debate towards the end of our meet about offensive magic." Mia's eyes were filled with excitement as she waited for Lissa to continue. Most of our clan thought offensive magic was a good idea since guardian numbers were dropping fast. Some families weren't given a guardian for that reason and offensive magic would at least give them a way to defend themselves against Strigoi and not be as powerless as most Moroi were now. "We agreed on offensive magic classes. Nothing mandatory and none for any underage Moroi, for safety reasons and because they think it can influence the young Moroi's judgment." She said rolling her eyes. "It's not as good as what I wanted, but it's a nice start since the idea isn't popular with the royals." I could see that the meeting had been tiring for her. The other royals had probably requested a lot and she must have felt like a rabbit trapped in a cage surrounded by a pack of starving wolves.

"That's great Liss! I knew you could do it." I was just as excited as Mia.

"I just don't know yet how we're going to organize these classes. I still haven't found a safe place and I don't know anyone who teaches offensive magic." She sighted.

"Don't worry" Mia said after a few minutes, "I've got you covered"

"Tell me" Lissa asked, a little surprised at how quickly she had found an answer to her problems.

"Well, I found an abandoned warehouse in one of the East forests when I was looking for a place to practice, it's far enough from any main building to be sure no one gets accidently hurt and it's not too small so we'll be able to move around without bumping into each other."

"We?" I asked

"Of course "we"! I would love to teach a class and I'm sure Christian would volunteer as well, it would just give me another reason to practice magic!"

"I don't know" Liss said "I don't want you guys in the middle of a cross fire if anything goes wrong. And the Moroi are probably going to be twice your age, they might not be willing to respect you."

"Don't worry Liss; I've been waiting for this for a while now. I'm ready. Plus Christian will be by my side, it's not like we can't handle this after all that we've been through."

Lissa hesitated a bit longer but we all knew this was the best deal she would ever get. She finally nodded, Mia gave a big smile and I could already see her planning her classes and what she was going to teach.

Our food finally arrived and I dug in without waiting any longer. Patience just wasn't my thing.

I heard Lissa giggle before she said. "You never change do you?"

"Nope. Not when it comes to food." We both ate silently for a while since we had both been starving and Mia talked about what had been going on in her life.

Once we were half way through our plate, I remembered something.

"Talking about magic Lissa, how are you feeling?" I was honestly worried. Now that I was no longer bound to her I couldn't take away the darkness or even see it, so I had no idea if it had started to affect her again. Especially with all the pressure she's been under lately.

"It's fine" she reassured me "Christian is keeping a close eye on me and I don't practice as much as before, even if I wish I could"

"Liss…"

"I know, I know, it's for my own good, and for the good of my people as well, but I still wish I could do more." I put my hand around her and hugged her tightly. I knew how much she wanted to help. After all, she was still Lissa, and I know she would save everyone and every animal if she could.

"I'm sorry Liss." I whispered to her ear.

"It's alright, it's not your fault anyways." I knew that was true but I still hoped I could somehow help her so she would be able to enjoy her magic more.

"At least Christian's going to be closer from now on." I said, remembering they were finally moving in together.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Well now that you guys are finally moving in together…"

"How do you know?!" she interrupted.

"How come I don't know?" I responded. I had been a little hurt she hadn't told me about it sooner, or called me when she got the news.

"Oh I've heard about it too." Mia said cheerfully. We were both surprised. It couldn't have been more than two hours since the guys and I had helped move their things. Seeing the look on our faces she explained that a friend of hers was working with someone at the mansion who had seen three guardians moving boxes from Lissa and Christian's apartment to the mansion. Apparently gossip went as fast here as it did at St Vladimir, probably even faster. I sighted as I remembered how gossip had been troubling my relationship.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Lissa said, cutting my thoughts. "To tell you the truth, I forgot about it for a while, being too preoccupied with meetings, expositions and all the appearances. We haven't had any time to pack or actually move yet so it just kept feeling surreal to me."

"Well at least now you'll have one less thing to worry about. Dimitri, Eddie and I just moved your things and Christian's to the mansion, so you guys can move in anytime now."

"Really! Thank you Rose!"

"Don't thank me" I said "Thank lover boy over there" I said pointing at Christian who had just walked in the food court. "I didn't even know about the move" I winked to her showing there were no hard feeling between us. She gave me a hesitant smile, probably still feeling a little guilty.

"So Liss how is it to be queen?" Mia asked. I knew she had been dying to know how it felt to be on top of the world. Lissa gave her some details about the most important things she did, which were the council meeting, the appearances and solving problems. Mia's smile grew; she was fascinated by her life style. Although she had grown to love her new post-school-life, she probably missed her former position as queen bee in high school. She had been dating Aaron and was the leader of a group of royal Moroi.

We had just finished eating, and had paid the check when Christian headed our way. We decided to meet him half way. Lissa was up in a second, but, when I stood up, I felt the world spinning around me and sat back down as quickly as I had stood.

"You okay Rose?" Lissa worried as she stopped to look at me.

"Yeah, I just got a bit dizzy that's all."

"You should go see a doctor, who knows, you might have some after effects from the accident, or side effects from the medicine" I felt myself shiver as I remembered the shooting and how I almost lost everyone I cared for.

"Don't worry Liss, it's probably nothing." To prove my point, I stood up again and started walking. She looked at me suspiciously but then came to join me as we walked towards Christian. I didn't see Dimitri, I guess he must have been called to somewhere.

"Hey there" he said as he placed a kiss on Lissa's lips. "I missed you."

"And that's my queue" I said as I walked away allowing them their privacy. I headed back to the main guardian building to see what I had been assigned to do in the afternoon. The rest of my shift consisted of checking the ward for most of the day and then guard duty at the gate. Luckily, there were no more dizziness so I didn't bother to go see a doctor. I probably just stood up a little too fast.

As my shift was coming to an end, I couldn't help but feel excited at the idea of spending some time alone with my man. It had been a while since our shift collided. After Tasha exposed our relationship, he often chose the night shift, hoping he wouldn't spend as much time under the scrutiny of snobbish royals. It wasn't a permanent decision; it was only until the Moroi found something else to gossip about. I could understand his choice, but I still missed him a lot. I missed his hugs and kisses; I missed his hands caressing my skin as he spoke sweet words to my ear. The more I thought about it the happier I got.

As soon as my shift ended I rushed to my apartment, got cleaned up and practically ran to Dimitri's apartment.

As I got closer to Dimitri's apartment, I started to hear voices coming from it. He was definitely not alone. One voice came from a woman and the other one was Dimitri's. My smile faded. I could recognize this voice anywhere.

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 **Author's note**

 **So? Who do you think that woman is?**

 **I know there hasn't been much Romitri** _ **yet**_ **but don't worry it's coming very soon I have big plans ;)**

 **Thanks for the support, and the follows! I'm glad you liked the story.**

 **A special thanks to my friend** **juju12al** **who joined me to write this story and** **aquafolie** **who has become my awesome beta reader. Hopefully there will be fewer mistakes from now on.**

 **I re-uploaded the first two chapters, without mistakes this time, sorry about that guys. Perhaps the few changes I made in the kiss scene can compensate for it ;)**

 **Don't forget to review; I would love to know what you think about the story so far. (Good and bad ;) )**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the character or the universe; it all belongs to Richelle Mead.**


	4. Chapter 4

_As soon as my shift ended I rushed to my apartment, got cleaned up and practically ran to Dimitri's apartment._

 _As I got closer to Dimitri's apartment, I started to hear voices coming from it. He was definitely not alone. One voice came from a woman and the other one was Dimitri's. My smile faded. I could recognize this voice anywhere._

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 **Chapter 4**

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In my imagination, I walked in Dimitri's apartment. The TV was on and a frail ginger girl was presenting some documentary about the early 80's singers. A terrific smell was coming from the kitchen where Dimitri was cooking and he welcomed me with an impatient kiss. But in real life, the female voice wasn't a journalist's, it was my mother's.

Sitting in Dimitri's sofa, a glass of water in her hand, she looked like she was coming from different time. The first beams of sun rise, illuminated the dark room, yet I could still notice her face. Her look was as sharp as her stake and as dark as her guardian uniform, cold and emotionless.

Dimitri was death-pale and still deeply confused, but he had had time to pull himself together and he made a step in my direction, after what seemed like an endless silence.

"Rose, your mother has come round to see you."

Obviously, she had. What was she doing here? I hadn't seen her since Lissa's coronation day. My relationship with Dimitri had become public and the rumors had been more than ugly. I had naively believed I could avoid talking about it with her.

When he reached me, he laid his hand upon my shoulder. This simple gesture reassured me, and I exhaled. I didn't even realize I had been holding my breath since I saw her. She stood up suddenly, looking me straight in the eyes.

"You owe me some explanation" she said.

Nice to see you too mum! My mother wasn't the type of women to beat about the bush. Even if her voice was calm, her eyes were full of anger and incomprehension.

When Dimitri realized I was still astonished and unable to say anything, he started to explain:

"Guardian Hathaway, I am truly sorry if you discovered details of our relationship through rumors, we …"

He was interrupted by my mother who's emotions were starting to show.

"Underage! You took advantage of Rose while she was still underage! I should have your guardian privileges removed! And you!" she turned to me "how dare you try to make me believe you weren't involved until you had turned him back! Your behavior was totally irresponsible! You might be a talented guardian, but if you don't use your brain and your sense of judgment, you will never have the ability to protect anyone from anything." she was practically yelling at me now. I couldn't help but notice the involuntary compliment she had made.

Her job was everything to her. She once chose her job over me and I had been raised by the Academy while she was doing what she called her duty. She couldn't understand that what I had with Dimitri had never been an obstacle to my job, no matter my age. He was my inspiration, my model and my love for him – and for Lissa – made me wake up everyday willing to be better than the day before.

I had hoped she would understand, since she didn't get mad when she found out Dimitri and I were dating. But still, knowing her and her personality, I wasn't surprised she would react the way she had. However, I was still hurt knowing this argument shattered all the progress we had made in our relationship over the year. I felt abandoned again, and my own temper took the better of me. I knew she was my mother, but Dimitri had been here for me more than she ever had. I didn't mind her speaking like this to me, I had gotten use to it over the years, never being good enough for her. But, how dare she speak to him like this! The more I thought about it the angrier I got. I was about to raise my voice and clearly tell her what was on my mind when Dimitri lifted his hand from my shoulder. Was he going to leave me as well? The idea of a life without Dimitri made a chill run down my back. I shifted my attention to him.

His eyes were pleading me not to make things worse. He wanted things to work, and was determined to make my mother understand what had happened between us. I realized I still hadn't spoken since I had entered the room. I took a deep breath before facing my mother once more.

"I understand where you're coming from but it wasn't something we had planned. We tried to put it off and pretend our feelings were simply illusions. But when Victor Dashkov influenced us with the lust charm..."

"Victor Dashkov!" Damn! I had forgotten no one except Lissa and Alberta knew the charm was actually a lust charm and not one that made me fight with Dimitri like we had told under oath. "This had been going on since you were brought back from Portland?! You had barely turned seventeen!"

"Yes, well like I said, we didn't plan this and couldn't control it." exasperation was starting to show in my voice.

"I had never thought you of all people would do this" she said to Dimitri, "I guess you never were as bright as your reputation..."

"Will you stop this already?!" It was my turn to cut her off. No matter how hard I had tried to stay calm, she was starting to get on my nerves. "We have tried to include you in our lives; we told you about this before it had gone viral, but if you won't even make an effort or try to understand us. Then, Get. Out!"

My harshness surprised her but her shock quickly turned to fury.

"Don't you speak to me like this, you are still my daughter and you better show me the respect I deserve!"

Our bodies were tensed and we were both keeping our grounds. None of us were going to change our minds anytime soon. Fortunately for us, an alarm rang before our hands were included in the argument.

The interruption confused us. This alarm system had been installed after the St Vladimir attack. It was a precaution Tatiana had taken in order to insure security to the royal Moroi and to herself.

On the other side of the door, the noises got louder and louder. People were starting to panic.

We were on lock down.

* * *

 **Author's note**

 **Sorry it's such a short chapter. j uju12al and I have already started the next chapter so it should be out soon. **

**What do you think about her mother's reaction? Do you think they're going to work things out? Why do you think they are on lock down?**

 **Some of you had guessed it, it was Rose's mom. Predictable, yes a little, but I did want to write the confrontation between Rose and her mother.**

 **I hope you like it. Thanks to does who did review, it made me really happy :)**

 **Disclaimer** **: I do not own Vampire Academy, it belongs to Richelle Mead!**


	5. Chapter 5

_The interruption confused us. This alarm system had been installed after the St Vladimir attack. It was a precaution Tatiana had taken in order to insure security to the royal Moroi and to herself._

 _On the other side of the door, the noises got louder and louder. People were starting to panic._

 _We were on lock down._

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

My mother was the first one to come to her senses. Her guardian mask was back and showed no sign of our previous conversation. However, we all knew this conversation was only on standby and that it would pick up as soon as we could.

"Let's go" she ordered.

We executed. The alarm had been set up to ring only in case of extreme danger. It either meant Strigoi were here -or near-, or that the queen was in immediate danger.

In the usually calm and quiet, corridor, a feeling of confusion and panic had been flared up. Moroi and Dhampirs were pushing and shoving. No one cared about being obliging or courteous, their only goal was to find their families and friends. Guardians were a bit more confused than panic-stricken, the alarm had been sudden and unexpected.

We barely had the time to hear what my mother said afterwards, she was gone in a blink of an eye.

My first move was to run to the mansion. Hopefully, Lissa would be there with Christian, where they would have been the safe. The adrenaline, pumping in my veins, made me run twice as fast as I usually did.

When we arrived, Lissa and Christian weren't there. Nothing had been disturbed, the furniture were still in place; which made me believe my friends were saved. They had probably been transferred to another building. After checking the place, a guardian informed us that they had been brought to the Citadel.

The Citadel was a really old place. The first kings and queens used it to protect themselves in case of crisis or attacks. It had been renovated several times within the years but, even before, it had never looked like an actual citadel. At the beginning, it was called the Safe but a king passionately fond of middle age changed its name few decades ago. Moreover it looked more like a bunker with bare walls of cement and no windows.

I was a little reassured when I saw that Eddie was part of the group guarding the entrance to the Citadel. He was one of the best guardians I knew and I would put my life in his hands without a second thought.

"Everything okay with Lissa?" I asked him to be sure.

Eddie didn't have time to answer before Lissa came barging out, throwing herself in my arms.

"You can't go out your majesty! Please stay inside!" I heard one of the guardians yell behind her. Clearly he hadn't been keeping a good eye on her or she wouldn't have slipped out. Not that Lissa wasn't capable of being manipulative when she wanted. I nodded to him, showing him I had things under control.

In the meantime, Dimitri had checked on Christian. Being Dimitri, he had arrived shortly before me.

"Rose, come inside, it's not safe." I heard him tell me.

Lissa was still in my arms, scared. It was the first time the alarm had sounded since it had been installed. Meaning Lissa wasn't the only one in fear right now.

I released my embrace and took her back inside the Citadel.

"You took your time!" my mother said harshly as I walked in. I decided to ignore her remark; it was useless to have a fight with her at this point. I returned my focus on Lissa

"What's going on Rose?" she asked.

Someone knocked on the door before I could answer and Lissa immediately asked one of the nearest guardian to open the doors.

"My Queen, it is really dangerous to open the door this often."

The Citadel was usually intended for Royals – and there were plenty of them – but I noticed some none-royal next to Lissa. Knowing her, she probably took everyone she saw on her way her offering the protection of the Citadel.

"I don't care. If anyone asks for help, Royal or not, open the door. As you said, Guardian Abramov, I am the Queen. I decide who can come in. You just do what I command you to."

I knew Lissa hated to use her status to have something, but she had realized it was sometimes necessary. It was one of the reasons she was a good Queen; she always listened to everyone, but she knew when to use her power as a Queen.

She dismissed the guardian and looked back at us. If Lissa wasn't in danger that meant we had another problem. Strigoi. Looking at Dimitri, I knew we had come up with the same conclusion.

"I'm not sure yet, but there's a good chance it's Strigoi." I answered

"Then you need to go back outside to help the others. Many Moroi could be in danger." she said apparently still quite stressed.

Seeing Dimitri hesitate, she added:

"Don't worry about Christian. He's safe here." She was right. In these circumstances the Citadel was the safest place for anyone. Dimitri seem to realize this as well and nodded.

We had already started to move to the door when I looked back.

"Under no circumstances will you leave this place, okay?" My voice left her no room for argument, and she knew she would waste time if she disagreed. She complied. I knew Lissa was brave, she had shown me this plenty of times, but I didn't want her to put her life at risk like I knew she would, if anything were to come.

"Be safe." She said, addressing both Dimitri and I.

"Don't worry Princess." Dimitri said, as we walk out. We both knew we would have each other's back if we encountered any threats.

We had practiced a few drills since we had gotten to court and knew exactly where to be, and what to do if the Queen didn't need our assistance. Dimitri and I were both assigned to the living quarters. Our job was to make sure the Moroi currently in their apartment, stayed put and opened their doors only when the alarm had fallen silent. As soon as we arrived, we went to report to our group's leader. You can guess my surprised when I found out the leadership position for our group had been assigned to none other than my mother.

"Guardian Hathaway, do we have any more information?" Dimitri asked.

"A large number of Strigoi have been spotted near the wards. After the alarm rang, they ran back into the forest. For now we follow protocol, but there's probably going to be a hunt afterwards." she responded.

We both nodded and got back to work. The idea of a hunt had only recently been approved by the Council. Guardians would go on the offensive if any threats were to come too close to the court or any institutions. More guardians had probably been requested for this hunt.

Dimitri and my mother were on the second floor, whereas I had been assigned to the third. The third floor was chaotic when I got here. Moroi were panicking and yelling. I noticed a guardian trying to make a female Moroi go back into her apartment. Still, she didn't seem to want to move. Honestly, what was wrong with these Moroi? Could they not see we were already busy enough? I walked towards them.

"Madame, we need you to get back inside. There's nothing we can tell you yet, but we will make sure to inform you of any new information we get. But now, for your own safety, we need you to get back inside, so we can better focus on the threat." The Moroi was still annoyed, but she turned around and slammed the door in our faces. Always as polite I thought to myself.

"Thanks for jumping in, it's my first time actually dealing with panicked Moroi, so I'm still a little clumsy." The guardian said, giving me a shy smile. He wasn't much taller than me, but even with the different layers I could see he was strongly built. He looked quite young, maybe a year older than me.

"It's okay, don't worry about it, you'll get there, just be frank, straight to the point and leaving no room for discussion." I smiled back. I walked away, ready to deal with another Moroi, when I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Well, if isn't Rose Hathaway" I shivered, hearing the amount of venom he had used to say my name. I turned around to face him. Why was I not surprised? It was the Moroi I had shoved aside the day we were going to see Lissa in her office. I tried to stay calm and pretend I had no idea who he was.

"Lord, please return to your housing, it's the safest place for you now…" I wasn't able to finish my sentence because he had started laughing hysterically.

"The safest place for me?" he laughed again. "How can I possibly be safe when you're the one guarding me?"

Stay calm Rose, stay calm I repeated to myself.

"Tell us what's going on. What is the threat?" he continued harshly.

"Lord, we don't have any information yet, but we will keep you informed, when we have more accurate details of the situation we are in. In the meantime, you really have to get back inside." We had always been taught not to give out any information, unless a solution had been found. Otherwise, it would simply make the situation worse by creating more panic.

"No information?! Are you seriously looking me straight in the eyes and lying to my face?!" he yelled. The sound of his voice had made it through the walls and Morois were opening their door. A smile appeared on his face. That son of bitch. This was exactly what he wanted. This was his revenge. He was about to start the chaos all over again, after we had finally managed to get most of the Moroi inside.

"Keep your voice down!" I was harsh, but quiet enough so the others wouldn't hear. He was clearly enjoying this. He spoke even louder.

"Right, of course you'd want to keep things secret. You like keeping secrets, and sneak around. You've already showed us this by screwing your mentor right?" I swear to god at this point I was going to leave a nasty bruise on his pretty little face. No, "They come first." I reminded myself.

He took a step forward.

"Perhaps you'd like to come inside with me, would you like to ride me too?" Before I knew it, he was grabbing my ass, and by the time I realized what was happening, I could already hear whispers. As if the court didn't already think I was a whore. Damn this asshole. I took his wrist and pushed them away. I was sick of him disrespecting me. Now rumors were starting again. It was going to make the matters with my mother worse. I had opened my mouth when the young men I had helped out earlier stepped in between us. The Moroi and I hadn't been far from each other, which meant they were now only a few inches apart.

Trespassing in his personal space made the Moroi move back. "Lord Ivanshkov, that's enough". Lord Ivanshkov? I guess he was probably one of Adrian's distance cousins.

This Ivanshkov was half the size of my savior. "I see, you're now having your puppies do your dirty work. Perhaps your sleeping with him as well." being satisfied of his work, he smiled at me, turned around a went home.

. CONTROL. God I wish I could lash out at him and beat some sense into his idiotic brain. I took a deep breath calming myself.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Sorry for dragging you into this." I really was sorry, people here took every chance they had to gossip, and after what Ivanshkov said, he was probably going to face some nasty rumors tomorrow.

"No sweat. Plus, now I get to say I saved the famous Rose Hathaway." He said with a wink. I then realized I didn't know his name yet.

"Now I'm embarrassed, you know my name, but I still don't know yours."

"Guardian Sam Beck" he said with a small courtesy bow making me laugh.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Guardian Beck." I said following a courtesy of my own. "What's his problem?" I asked pointing at the door the Moroi had disappeared into.

"Max Ivanshkov? I heard he lost his brother a few years back to the Strigoi." He explained.

"Yeah well it still doesn't condemn his arrogant behavior." I replied.

I heard arguing coming from downstairs and I remembered we were still on lock down. It wasn't the time to be chatty. He nodded and we both got back to work.

Once the main hall of the floor was secured, I moved to the second. Each floor was made of two halls separated by a bridge. The first hall had better accommodation which meant they were mostly occupied by royal, while non royals were in the second hall.

Before I arrived in the second hall, my eyes stumbled upon two children. I guessed they were siblings by the way the older boy held the girl's hand and was trying to wipe away the tears pouring down her cheeks. They couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. I slowed my pace, trying my best not to scare them even more. The boy noticed me first. To my surprise he started walking in my direction.

"You're a guardian right?" he asked. Apparently this Moroi was raised to respect and trust the guardians. Thank god these kinds of families still existed.

"Yes I am. Where are your parents?" I smoothed my voice as much as I could.

"That's the problem… We can't find them. They were supposed to be home hours ago."

"Don't worry, I'm sure the lock down is the reason they aren't here yet. They'll be here as soon as it's lifted." I reassured them.

"You don't understand…" his voice was desperate. "They weren't in court yet when the lock down began. They were coming home from my aunt's place. She lives a few miles away." Tears were starting to fill his eyes. He grabbed my hand and looked me straight in the eyes. "Please… Please help us find them." He begged me. This wasn't good. Whether they were royals or not, Moroi safety was always our first priority. If they were stuck somewhere while coming back to court, they would become an easy prey for the nearby Strigoi, if they hadn't already.

"I'll see what I can do, but first, I need you guys to stay strong and come with me." I looked at the boy before carrying on. "Until your parents come home, you have to be responsible and keep your sister safe. She needs you now more than ever." I stretched out my hand to him. He grabbed it and we started to move to the main hall. I didn't want them to be alone during this crisis and was going to bring them to Lissa.

We walked back to the main hall and I asking one of the guardians there to go to the second hall. The second hall had been calm. Most of the residents were probably at work when the lock down was announced. However, as a precaution, I still rather someone be there. The halls were now silent and ordered. Three guardians stood watch, two near the door and one paced around. I excused myself and we went downstairs.

Janine noticed me first and came to me, surprise to see me holding a child's hand. I related what the little boy had told me as fast as I could. There was no more time to waste. Whether they knew it or not, those Moroi were most likely in a very dangerous situation.

Dimitri joined us soon after.

"What's the problem?" he seemed genuinely worried. My mother was speaking into an ear piece while I explained the situation once more. Dimitri looked thoughtful and I knew he was trying to find a solution to this problem.

"Yes… Yes… I understand sir" After that, she turned to face us. "We have things under control here, you two go bring the child to the Citadel and then stay with your charges."

We nodded.

The children were a little suspicious of Dimitri even if he wore his guardian uniform. I couldn't blame them; from where they stood he was probably a giant. The boy held his sister closer and kept an eye on Dimitri just in case. Under different circumstances I would probably have made fun of the situation, but for now, there were more urgent matters.

The Moroi had been instructed to stay where they were, but fear had taken the upper hand over reason and we saw some Moroi running from a building to another in our way to find Lissa.

We arrived quickly and Lissa seemed truly surprised to see us back that fast. When she saw the children, she rushed in our direction.

"They were alone, so I thought they'd feel safer here with you." I explained.

"What happened to your parents" she asked the boy. He told her the same story he had told me. My eyes met hers before she told us to go and help with the search.

"Our orders are to stay here with you." I replied. I wanted to go, but at the same time I couldn't go against a direct order from my superiors.

"Well now I order you, as your Queen, to go back out there and help with the search. I'm pretty sure my rank overpowers the one who gave you the order." She said with a smile.

"Very well then _Your Majesty._ "

"Oh, and Rose" she said before we left, "take Luc and Eric with you."

Dimitri nodded and we went out with Luc and Eric, two of Lissa's guardians. We decided to go to the wards first see if the other guardians had any lead. Our little troop moved fast even if we had to stop several times to give a hand.

The guardians there had been planning, and were sending a few groups out in different direction to look for them. Luc and Eric were in one group and Dimitri and I were in another.

Both of them left first and we were about to leave as well when we saw Eric, followed by Luc, running towards us. They were winded and seemed quite worried.

"What happened?" I asked

I could see that none of them wanted to be the one telling me the news.

"Luc?" He didn't respond. "Eric? Come on! Tell me." He made a step in my direction hesitating.

"We found a corps."

* * *

 **Author's note**

Who's body is it?

What do you think of Sam and Max? How about Luc and Eric? Who's your favorite character?

What do you think is going to happen.

Huge thanks to juju12al who's writing this story with me and giving me all kind of crazy ideas for the next few chapters.

Anyways, I hope you like it. PLEASE REVIEW!

To Anna, I wish you had an account so I could reply to you. Thanks for your reviews!

 **IMPORTANT:** Do you like when lemons are included in a story? I made a poll on my profile for those who want to stay anonymous other wise just review or PM me. It's important for the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, it belongs to Richelle Mead!


	6. Chapter 6

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